


I Can't Believe You

by SapphyreLily



Series: MatsuOi Week 2017 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, MatsuOiWeek 2017, sliiight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:44:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily
Summary: MatsuOi Week Day 1 - Pets & SecretsThere are little things that you'd never let others know, even someone you trust intimately; there are things you wish you could do, but find yourself holding back. Is there an in between?





	

**Author's Note:**

> THERE'S FINALLY A MATSUOI WEEK I LOVE THIS SHIP SO MUCH OK

Matsukawa was an observant man.

It was practically embedded in him, trained from his time as a middle blocker, to watch for small movements on the court, to keep an eye on his opponent and when they would strike.

So of course this skill was taken off the court as well, unwittingly used in his day-to-day life, to a point that most people thought it scary.

(In contrast, he thought it was useful, a fact that Hanamaki loved to take advantage of, especially when they were planning pranks.)

(He didn’t mind.)

So it was this _useful_ skill that helped him pick up on something unusual one day when he was out with Oikawa.

Now, Oikawa was a very expressive man when he wanted to be, but in his quiet moments, he could be so blank that only someone who knew him well enough could call him out on it. Once upon a time, that little category consisted only of one Iwaizumi Hajime. But after three years spent in his company at volleyball club, and two more in sharing an apartment with him, Matsukawa could read Oikawa very well.

Which is why he knew that Oikawa, despite not pressing his face up against the glass like he was wont to do, wanted something desperately.

Or rather, some _one._

“That’s a cute cat,” Matsukawa commented, walking up next to him, staring through the display window at the little calico curled up in its basket.

Oikawa smiled a little – it was his unguarded smile, his fond smile – and said, “Yeah. It's adorable.”

Matsukawa glanced at him; his eyes were glittering, a sheen of sadness, and as alarmed as he suddenly felt, he quashed it. “Do you want a cat?”

Oikawa shook his head. “It just reminded me of something. C'mon, let’s go, or the grocery store will close.”

Matsukawa followed him, a little curious, but more perplexed. He hung back a little, pulling out his phone and typing a quick message to the only other person who would know Oikawa’s moods and drives.

“Mattsun?”

“Coming.” He slid the phone back into his pocket, catching up in two strides, and let Oikawa beguile him with some new rumour he had heard on campus earlier that day.

\-----

**[Iwaizumi]:** A cat?

**[Matsukawa]:** yes hajime, a cat

**[Iwaizumi]:** Oh.

**[Iwaizumi]:** Well. We had a cat when we were younger

**[Matsukawa]:** wat

**[Iwaizumi]:** It was a stray we took care of for a while. It ran away.

**[Matsukawa]:** oh

**[Matsukawa]:** d’you think hed like a vat

**[Iwaizumi]:** He’s been whining about one for years. Dunno why he never told you

**[Matsukawa]:** maybe bcos id actually go get one

**[Iwaizumi]:** True

**[Iwaizumi]:** MATSUKAWA NO

**[Matsukawa]:** relax, there’s a stray im friendly with

**[Matsukawa]:** I’ll just bring it home

**[Iwaizumi]:** No, you take it to the vet first

**[Iwaizumi]:** Then you take it home.

**[Matsukawa]:** I cant believe u approve

**[Iwaizumi]:** I nearly forgot our anniversary last week and Hiro is still mad at me

**[Matsukawa]:** oooh. sucks to be u

**[Iwaizumi]:** Go worry about your own boyfriend

**[Matsukawa]:**  yes sir

\-----

Oikawa was usually not a suspicious man.

That was a lie.

He was very suspicious, because he liked to know everything that was going on. So one day, when he came back to find a door closed in their apartment, he was _definitely_ suspicious.

He looked around the house, still pulling off his shoes, and called out. “Mattsun? Are you there?”

There was no reply, so he stepped forward, dropping his bag. He didn’t know what he expected when he opened the closed door, but it certainly wasn’t a hiss.

He shut the door. Opened it. Shut it. Pulled out his phone.

\-----

_“Matsukawa Issei, why is there a cat in our house?!”_

Matsukawa gave his phone a glance before he carefully replaced it next to his ear. “I… Surprise?”

_“Bloody hell, of course I’m surprised!”_

Matsukawa hoisted the bag in his free arm higher, looking both ways before he crossed the street. When he replied, his tone was low, carefully controlled. “I thought you’d like it. Iwaizumi said you like cats.”

_“Well– Yeah– But–”_ There was an angry huff, before Oikawa began again in a calmer voice. _“I’m just– That’s not a kitten.”_

“No, he isn’t,” Matsukawa agreed. “But he’s clean, sterilized, and he needs a home.”

_“Wait. He– He’s not from a store?”_

“No? He’s a stray.”

_“Oh my god, Mattsun–”_

“Hey, hey, don’t freak out on me. I’m almost back, open the door for me, please?”

_“…yeah. See you soon.”_

\-----

Oikawa was very displeased.

Matsukawa set the bag of cat litter down, dusted his hands off, and turned to face him with a deep exhale. “Alright, go.”

The tirade was like a tsunami. “A CAT?! Mattsun, we hardly have time for ourselves, and this is what you bring back? And not even one from a pet store, but a stray, off the streets–”

Matsukawa sighed internally, letting his boyfriend rant.

_Well, I knew this was the likely outcome._

_I’m a fool._

“–and he’s not even cute!” Oikawa huffed angrily, folding his arms. “You got a cat, fine, but he’s not even pretty!”

Matsukawa sighed. “I’m sorry. Really.”

“Are you sure? Because that’s a really big responsibility that neither of us are ready for–”

“Tooru.”

The sound of his name made him pause, but it was really the tired look on Matsukawa’s face that made him stop.

His boyfriend waved a hand helplessly, before letting it drop to his side, limp and hopeless. “Iwaizumi said you had a stray before when you were younger, and that you love cats. I thought that meant you didn’t mind helping out someone without a home. Sorry. Sorry that I was wrong.”

His voice was resigned, tired, and he looked so despondent that Oikawa immediately felt guilty.

“I– Just– Mattsun, _why_ did you bring him home?”

His reply was soft, almost a whisper, like he was scared of admitting it. “I saw you when you saw the cat in the store the other day. I thought maybe you were sad because you could never have one.”

He wasn’t looking at him anymore, so he was surprised when instead of silence, someone slammed into him, hands going around his neck in a tight hug. “You idiot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No! No,” he squeezed more tightly, a hitch in his voice. “I’d love to keep one. Always have, always will. But, why? Why _now_? Why– Just why?”

He was silent for a while, thinking, thinking.

(A quiet night, with backlit lights, lamps illuminating a body bent over papers.)

(Covers tugged over heads, muffled sobs, biting of lips and worry, always worry.)

(The ache of a heart, but also the hesitance in reaching out.)

_(Would my presence be wanted?)_

“…because sometimes a cat can be a better friend than a human. And I think we need that.” He lifted his arms, finally, finally squeezing him back. “Because we have secrets that we can never tell other people, but maybe, we’ll tell a cat.”

Oikawa sniffed, burying his face in his neck. “You’re telling me he’s a therapy cat.”

“Well, I’m not sure about that, but I talk to him after a bad day and it makes me feel better, you know?”

“You could always talk to me.”

“…I could,” he admitted. “But would you be comfortable telling me all your secrets? Even those you are embarrassed of?”

A beat of silence, a tightening of his arms, and that was all the answer he needed. So he spoke, a quiet murmur, a simple assurance, but whether it was for himself or Oikawa, he knew not.

“A cat’ll be good for us.”

His boyfriend sniffed, unwound himself from around him. “Yeah. I guess.”

He smiled a little – a tiny thing, a despondent thing – and took his hand. “Come on, let’s go meet him.”

\-----

“Issei?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t actually mean what you said about him being a therapy cat, do you?”

“I do, but it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I actually just wanted to give you a cat. Your birthday’s soon.”

“…idiot.”

“Look in a mirror.”

The sound of scuffling, a plaintive meow from the foot of the bed. Combined laughter at the soft _thump_ on the blankets.

A little voice, admitting something softer into the darkness.

“I love him, thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic absolutely sucks, and I'm sorry. It went from fluff to angst really fast whoops.


End file.
